Meet
Halima

Originally from Somalia and now living in Kenya, in the world’s largest refugee camp, Halima has been through a hell few can imagine. But after traveling over 1,000 miles seeking fistula treatment, she is finally healed.

Halima's Story

Halima* is a soft-spoken 25-year-old from Baidoa, in south-central Somalia. In 2013, she went into labor at home and was attended by a relative. This was the fifth child she had carried, although at the tender age of 23, already three of her children had died. She was in labor a long time without any progress—many days, it seemed—before she was eventually taken by her relatives to the nearest health facility.

While at the facility, her experience turned from bad to horrific when fighters from al-Shabaab, the terrorist network operating in Somalia, stormed the health center and started shooting the doctors and staff who were attending to the women. She remembers being assaulted by al-Shabaab fighters who claimed they could deliver her baby and then attempted to do so. Halima could barely speak about this terrifying episode, but she remembers eventually escaping the hospital, without her baby—the child had been stillborn—only to realize that she was constantly leaking urine. She had developed a fistula. Injured and traumatized, it took her four months to be able to walk again.

Halima was abandoned by her husband due to her condition, and she now lives in Kenya with her only surviving son, 7-yeard-old Mohamed. Seeking treatment, she traveled first to Ethiopia—more than 700 miles away—and eventually to Somaliland. But after traveling over 1,000 miles and undergoing multiple surgeries, she had no relief. She decided that going to Dadaab, located near the Somali border in northeastern Kenya, would be her best hope for medical treatment and maybe a better life. Dadaab is the world’s largest refugee camp, home to more than 300,000 people. Most are refugees from Somalia, who, like Halima, have been displaced by years of conflict and famine at home.

It was here in Dadaab that Halima was screened for fistula. Since May 2015, Action on Fistula has provided fistula repair surgery for 52 women from the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps in Kenya. Through a close partnership with Jamaa Mission Hospital in Nairobi and with logistics support from the National Council of Churches of Kenya, women have traveled from the camps, where there is no fistula repair capacity, to Nairobi, where they can be treated.

Awaiting treatment at the hospital in Nairobi, Halima seemed very nervous that the repair would be a success and wiped away tears when she thought of the prospect of going through surgery again without a better result. The difficult reality is that not all fistulas can be completely repaired.

But several weeks later, in the feedback from the hospital, there was a short and simple word next to Halima’s name. A word that carries enormous importance for changing the course of her life: “Dry.”

U.S. News & World Report featured this article from our longtime friend and partner, Dr. Hillary Mabeya. Writing in recognition of International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, he tells the story of his journey— from young medical resident to renowned fistula surgeon and leader. May 23 is International Day to End Obstetric Fistula, and I’m…

Read Another Woman’s Story

Zambia

In 1996, Molia was pregnant with twins during her seventh pregnancy. Her mother was a traditional birth attendant, so the first twin was delivered at home. But the second one was delivered at a rural health center and her delivery became obstructed. The baby did not survive. After her delivery, she sat on a bike and noticed she was wet.

Zambia

After two days of labor at a clinic hear her village, Doris was transferred to a hospital where the staff refused to give her the cesarean section she needed because "she was going to die anyway." Her baby did not survive and Doris developed an obstetric fistula. Her husband left, and soon, so did her hope.

Guinea

Rahila never had the opportunity to attend school; instead, she sells donuts in the market and farms for a living. She married at age 14 and became pregnant soon thereafter. Unfortunately, Rahila developed obstetric fistula during delivery and was left leaking urine and feces.

Madagascar

Rasoanandrasana's body had gone through a great deal of trauma from childbirth. At the tender age of 15, she was married, and it wasn't long after that she became pregnant. Her labor lasted more than 12 hours before her doctor delivered via Caesarian section. Her baby did not survive, and Rasoanandrasana was left with obstetric fistula.

Madagascar

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Josephine is from the northwestern corner of the Democratic Republic of Congo. 34 years old, she is the mother of two healthy boys, ages 11 and 9, the only surviving children from her four pregnancies.

Kenya

Jacklyn is just 29 years old, but has faced enough heartbreak to last a lifetime. Born and raised in Kisii County in western Kenya, Jacklyn was raised by her older sister because their parents abandoned them when she was a small child. She was never able to go to school because she had to do odd jobs along with her older sister in order to have enough food to eat at the end of the day.

Zambia

After suffering from obstetric fistula for 17 years, Yvonne boarded a bus that would take her to treatment. She was hopeful that on her return ride, she would be traveling in a dry dress for the first time in nearly two decades.

Uganda

Tanzania

Rose developed a fistula after her very first pregnancy, and has been suffering because of it ever since. For over fifty years she struggled, never knowing that treatment was available....until recently when she met Sister Anna, the head nurse of Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center's fistula ward in Moshi.

Madagascar

For the last eight years, Ravony has suffered with obstetric fistula, which caused her to leak urine uncontrollably. Her fistula was the result of a five day labor that ended in the death of her child.

Democratic Republic of Congo

Chad

Nura comes from Lai, a region in the south of Chad where she married at age 17. She first became pregnant at 20 and tried to give birth at home, aided only by her family. After 4 days of complicated labor, she was finally taken to the maternity center in Guidari, a nearby village.

Kenya

Salome's labor began at night. She sought help from her mother-in-law, who immediately called Salome's husband - by cultural norms, the only one who could give permission for Salome to seek help at a hospital. But he had turned his phone off for the night and was unreachable. Her mother-in-law tried all she could throughout the night to help Salome deliver her child. By the time Salome's husband returned the call the next morning to advise that she be taken immediately to the hospital, it was too late. The baby did not survive, and Salome had developed an obstetric fistula.

Kenya

“It was so painful to leave the hospital with the few clothes I had bought for my baby. It was painful to walk out of the gates empty handed [without a baby] and to worsen the matter, with the leaking of urine."

Madagascar

Sodreine is from Iabomora Village, about 56km from Vangaindrano in Madagascar. She gave birth to her first child at the age of 17, but her labor did not progress as planned. As a result, she developed obstetric fistula.

Chad

Khadijah lived with fistula for 18 years, and it isolated her from everything and everyone around her. Originally from Chad's northern region of Bar Elgazel, she was married when she was only 14 years old. Her first pregnancy came three years afterwards and, not knowing the importance of seeking health care or treatment, she never received any prenatal care.

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